Iran Condoles with Indonesia over Deadly Plane Crash

In a Monday telephone conversation with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, Zarif offered his condolences to the families of victims of the fatal crash and wished divine mercy for the dead.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh had also expressed regret over the tragedy.

In his statement, Khatibzadeh offered condolences to the Indonesian nation and government over the incident, and expressed sympathy with the families of the victims.

Rescuers searching for the wreckage of the Indonesian passenger jet that crashed into the ocean with 62 people on board on Saturday say they have located the plane’s black box flight recorder and obtained communications data.

The head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said late on Sunday evening that the two black boxes from Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 are believed have been detected within 150 to 200 meters (492 to 656 feet) of the crash site — and that search and rescue operations are continuing around the clock.

Authorities said Monday that their efforts to recover bodies, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were hampered by debris in the water.